Perry said he was “taken a little aback” when confronted at Saturday’s Iowa debate with the deep-pockets bet to challenge his claim that Romney endorsed ObamaCare’s national mandate to buy health insurance.

Perry told “Fox News Sunday” that he didn’t think “anyone in Iowa would even think a $10,000 bet was possible.”

He said it showed that Romney, who made millions as a corporate raider before becoming Massachusetts governor, was “a little out of touch with the normal Iowa citizen.”

The big bet would equal about a fifth of the median family income in Iowa, which holds its first-in-the-country caucus in just three weeks.

The gaffe couldn’t have come at a worse time for Romney, as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich hurtles ahead to a commanding lead in Iowa and other crucial states.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad also slammed Romney for trying to coast to victory.

“He’s starting to understand that he’s going to have to get much more aggressive. He’s going to have to spend more time here,” the Republican governor said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Romney has catching up to do in Iowa and elsewhere.

A new NBC News-Marist poll revealed that Gingrich — fueled by Tea Party support — led Romney by nearly 20 points in South Carolina, an early primary state that has chosen the GOP presidential nominee in every race since 1980.

The poll showed Gingrich in front with 42 percent of likely primary voters in the Palmetto State.

Romney came in a distant second with just 23 percent.

All of the other contenders finished in single digits.

South Carolina holds its primary Jan. 21.

“Newt Gingrich has established himself as the Republican front-runner and, yeah, he’s for real,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Graham, a leader of a GOP revolt to oust Gingrich as speaker in 1998, not only predicted that his former foe would win the South Carolina primary if it were held today, but also voiced his own support.

“I’m not going to endorse him, but I think he can beat President Obama,” Graham said. “I would certainly support him as president if he won the nomination.”

While the bet cemented Romney’s country-club image, his supporters scrambled to explain away the embarrassing gaffe.

Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, a key Romney ally, described the bet as a “figure of speech.”

“The only thing that will come out of that is it will remind people about a $500,000 outstanding bill at Tiffany’s,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to Gingrich’s credit line at the famed New York jewelry store.

“Those are not the things you should judge whether somebody should be a president or not,” he said.

A beaut for Newt

A new NBC-Marist poll shows Newt Gingrich taking command in the early primary states of South Carolina and Florida.